Page 19
Panel 1
In the foreground, the nurse is talking to a man—Principal Sukina—as Koinu approaches. We can see Kagome sitting on the bed in the background.
Koinu: Principal Sukina, sir!
Nurse: Oh, good! Here’s the boy!
Sukina: Houjou. Good to see you. Thanks for helping with Higurashi, son.
Panel 2
Close-up of Koinu with his widest, most innocent smile.
Koinu: Good news, sir! I’ve called home, and Higurashi can come to my house! There’ll be plenty of adult supervision, and I’ll take very good care of her! We’ll let her family know. Her grandfather likes me a lot!
Panel 3
Close-up of Sukina.
Sukina: Ah. Thank you, Houjou, but that won’t be necessary. Go back to class, now, and we’ll take over from here.
Panel 4
Close-up of Koinu, considering.
Koinu: . . .
Panel 5
Koinu bows.
Panel 5
Close-up of Koinu, still bowing, looking down, expression neutral.
Koinu: I don’t wish to be disrespectful, sir . . .
Panel 6
Same view, but Koinu’s brows are scowling as he looks up, eyes glowing under his bangs.
Koinu: but I will take Higurashi home now.
Panel 7
Close-up of Sukina, who looks startled.
Panel 8
Close-up of Koinu with a wide-eyed, goofy grin.
Panel 9
Koinu carries Kagome away on his back as the principal and nurse watch.
Kagome: Put me down if I’m too heavy.
Koinu: Shut up. You don’t weigh anything.
Kagome: You just told me to shut up.
Koinu: Sorry. Old habit.
Sukina: Does that boy have yellow eyes?
Nurse: I thought they looked brown.
Page 20
Panel 1
A woman, older, western, maybe middle-aged, with a pageboy haircut and large features, looks out of a car window at the approaching Koinu, who carries Kagome on his back and has a backpack slung over one arm. The woman is Auntie Barbra.
Barbra: Excuse me, you fucking spoiled slant-eyed foreign service brat, but the anorexic on your back doesn’t have any shoes.
Koinu: I know, Auntie. It’s OK, they’re in her bag.
Panel 2
Auntie Barbra looks on as Koinu reaches the seat belt across Kagome, who sits in the front passenger seat with eyes closed.
Koinu: Auntie, this is Higurashi, but she’s passed out again. Hook the belt for me, won’t you?
Kagome: Mmm.
Koinu: Kagome, it’s OK. We’re just getting in the car.
Barbra: "Kagome"? Dammit, Puppy-chan, yer ma’s gonna have a shit fit. You promised no more Musashi’s Domain.
Panel 3
View of the three inside the car. Kagome has her eyes closed, Barbra is scowling, Koinu in the back seat looks indignant.
Koinu: I haven’t said a bleeding word about Musashi’s Domain. Higurashi is a perfectly nice girl who just happens to have a name of Kagome.
Barbra: "Happens to be named Kagome."
Koinu: Excuse me. "Happens to be named of—"
Barbra: "Happens to be named." No "of".
Koinu: "To be named Kagome." Thank you, kind nanny, you fucking cow.
Panel 4
View of the three inside the car.
Barbra: What’s wrong with her?
Koinu: She’s starving herself to death, I think. I am going to take her home and feed her.
Barbra: Oh, fucking brilliant. Puppy-chan, why the hell are we getting involved in this?
Koinu: Because it’s my fault she is starving! I need to find her more soon so she does not try to die. I said that badly, didn’t I?
Panel 5
View of the three inside the car.
Barbra: Yeah, you sound like a fucking Jap. Sigh. This would be an excellent time for you to convince me you’re not fucking looney.
Koinu: I’m not looney, Auntie! I have just put it all together! Kagome remembers this as well!
Barbra: Brilliant. When we get home, let’s look up "folie à deux." Yer mum’s gonna kill us both.
Page 21
Panel 1
Koinu leans in the open car door to talk to Kagome, who is now awake.
Koinu: Kagome? We’re here! You’re going to be all right now!
Panel 2
Wide view of a kitchen, with range, double sink, and a countertop with a hot water dispenser, rice cooker, and coffeemaker. Koinu, piggybacking an abashed-looking Kagome, speaks to the three women who are in the kitchen: Kamura-san, a youngish Asian woman; Auntie Terra, a western woman with the look of an aging flower child, and Habib-san, who has her back to us so that we see only her head scarf.
Ms. Kamura: Good morning, Koinu-kun! You have a friend today?
Koinu: Good morning, Kamura-san, Habib-san. Good day, Auntie Terror!
Terra: Koinu! hatone
Habib: Good morning, Koinu-kun.
Koinu: This is Higurashi. She’s starving to death. I have to feed her. What would be good?
Panel 3
Closeup of Kagome, on Koinu’s back, whispering to him over his shoulder. He is amused.
Kagome: "Auntie Terror" sounds like a bad guy in an American comic book!
Panel 4
View of Koinu, Kagome, and Terra. Koinu has set down the apprehensive Kagome.
Koinu: It’s Auntie Terra! Terra like earth. (to Terra) Auntie Terra, Kagome gibberish American comic book!
Terra: thinksyour!! ksyo down hin ksyou ramen andanicecupof tea!
Koinu: Excellent!
Panel 5
As Koinu adds hot water to a cup in the background, Kagome peers uncertainly at Ms. Habib, who we see is wearing the head-and-shoulder scarf typical of Muslim hijab.
Koinu: Kagome, I’m fixing you some tea and a cup of ramen, which you are going to eat if I have to stuff it down your throat.
Panel 6
The smiling Koinu carries a tray with a small teapot, cups, chopsticks, and instant ramen cup. Behind him, Kagome grabs his arm as she reacts wide-eyed to something she sees.
Koinu: These are some of the ladies from my mother’s committee, the Women’s International Peace Committee. Can you walk? We have a Japanese room. We’ll sit in there and they won’t bother us.
Panel 7
Koinu looks at Kagome, who is holding his upper arm and blushing.
Koinu: You OK?
Kagome: Um . . . two of the ladies were . . . kissing.
Panel 8
Closeup of Koinu, who looks unconcerned.
Koinu: Probably my nannies, Auntie Terra and Auntie Barbra. They’re partners. If it makes you feel any better, Auntie Barbra is still technically a man.
Panel 9
The two face each other. Koinu is casual, Kagome dumbfounded.
Koinu: Welcome to my house.
Page 22
Panel 1
Koinu kneels to set the tray on a table in an elegant tatami room. Kagome kneels nearby, smiling.
Kagome: Wow. This room’s so beautiful and . . . old. It’s funny . . . everything else in your house is so modern.
Koinu: I know. Almost everything in this room is an antique. It’s my favorite place in the house, except maybe for my room. I have a tatami room too, but it’s kind of . . . lived in.
Panel 2
Koinu opens a sliding door.
Koinu: Here, this is nice. This is our shrine. It’s very old.
Panel 3
View of the two kneeling, with hands in an attitude of prayer.
Panel 4
View of the two before a wooden shrine cabinet, on which are photographs, statuettes, and zigzag paper streamers. Above the shrine hangs a katana—not Tetsusaiga—in a scabbard. Kagome holds a photograph.
Koinu: That’s my great-grandfather Houjou. We used to live with him when we were in Japan. He once was a general. He died three years ago. That’s his katana. I liked him a lot. We used to watch baseball on television.
Panel 5
View of the two. Kagome holds a different photograph, one of a young man.
Koinu: That’s my Grandfather Houjou.
Kagome: Oh, when he was a boy! You look just like him, except for the hair.
Koinu: A boy is all he ever was. He finished high school, got married, and went to the war. He died two months later. He was still 18. My dad was born in January 1946.
Panel 6
Closeup of the photograph in Kagome’s hands. We can see that Grandfather Houjou looks like a black-haired Koinu, and is about Koinu’s age.
Koinu: I guess . . . that’s about how old I was, wasn’t I? At least I didn’t leave behind a baby with no father.
Panel 7
Stylized close-up of Koinu, unless I killed it and made this a text panel.
Koinu: After my father was born, my grandmother went back to her family. My dad never saw her again. He was raised by his grandfather. That’s sort of like what happened to me the first time. At least I had my mother for a few years . . . Kagome? I have to tell you a few things . . .
Page 23
Panel 1
View of the two, now seated at the table.
Koinu: But first you have to eat. And if you need to use the toilet, do it now, because I’m not going to let you go and vomit. My mom’s committee does all kinds of pamphlets about things like anorexia, and I earn my allowance by stuffing envelopes. So I know all the tricks. Got it?
Panel 2
View of Kagome, sitting hands folded, looking serious.
Kagome: You’re . . . different, aren’t you? Different from what you were, and from what I though you were this time.
Panel 3
Closeup profile of Koinu.
Koinu: . . . This is what I am. I’ve been living in this century for almost 17 years. I have a life. I’m human. I told you yesterday—you’re free. I hope you’ll like me enough to stay with me. Probably you won’t after I talk to you. It doesn’t matter. You’re still going to get well.
Panel 4
Closeup profile of Kagome.
Kagome: Nothing’s going to make me want to leave you. You told me last night about your life and your family and everything.
Panel 5
Closeup of Kagome.
Kagome: I’m still who I was and . . . what I was. I could see yesterday that you’re the boy who died in my arms.
Panel 6
View of the two sitting at the table.
Kagome: Whatever you’re getting ready to tell me, it’s OK! You’re you! You’re still the person I loved on the other side!
Panel 7
View of the two; Koinu has turned away.
Koinu: Yeah, that’s the problem. The person you loved on the other side. You have to eat.
Kagome: Could I just start with the tea?
Koinu. Yes, to start. But you’re going to eat.
Kagome: Tell me.
Panel 8
Closeup of Koinu.
Koinu: Uh . . . I’ve been thinking all night, you know? And in the infirmary . . . About my life and . . . how all the things I thought I might have made up are real.
Panel 9
Closeup of Koinu.
Koinu: Kagome, something happened yesterday. At the cemetery . . . something about my scaring you and you hitting me. It . . . changed me . . . it made everything . . . belong to me.
Page 24
Panel 1
Close-up of Koinu
Koinu: In a lot of ways, that life was like a movie I’d seen a hundred times—I knew the story by heart, but it was like something that I’d seen happen to somebody else. Maybe because I’m not allowed to talk about –then. It scares my parents a lot. They’re afraid I’m crazy. My mom cries whenever I mention your name.
Panel 2
Close-up of Kagome, holding her tea and listening.
Koinu (offscreen): When I was four I fell off my neighbor’s bike. When I woke up in the emergency room, I was . . . me. I thought I’d been asleep, and you’d gone back to your realm! Then I saw myself in a mirror. It was a big shock. Drink that tea. Now.
Panel 3
Close-up of Koinu.
Koinu: I kept trying to explain to everybody who I was. They all thought I had some kind of brain damage from the accident. I kept trying to look for you, but I was stuck being a little kid. I kept thinking how humiliating it would be when I found you.
Panel 4
Close-up of Koinu.
Koinu: Years and years went by. I kept thinking how you must have grown up, how you probably gave up on me. Then when I was like ten we had this movie in school.
Panel 5
Flashback: Koinu, age 10, with some other children looking toward a movie screen.
Koinu (offscreen): One of those "life in the olden days" movies, about the Warring States era . . . Some of it you would have laughed at, Kagome! If you’d been there . . . some of it was just so wrong . . .
Panel 6
Flashback: Closeup of Koinu, age 10, beginning to figure it out.
Koinu (offscreen): But some of it was right. Then I realized what I was watching. They kept saying, "Nobody knows exactly what life was like because nobody from that time is still alive . . .
Panel 7
Flashback: Closeup of Koinu, age 10, fighting tears; in the background a child is fooling with a paper hoodgie (we used to call them fortune tellers).
Koinu (offscreen): That’s when I finally realized that 500 years had passed and that I . . .
Panel 7
Flashback: Closeup of Koinu, age 10, weeping; in the background, children are chatting.
Koinu (offscreen): was the only one left alive.
Panel 8
View of Kagome and Koinu.
Koinu: That . . . was bad. For a while I just tried to find out what happened to everybody. The only one I found was Miroku—like you, I guess.